Worst thing about being an adult...... deciding what to have for dinner every night!

[Pollydollydoodle]

Just this ^
Am I the only one that despairs every morning at the thought of what to make for tea that night.

Yes, that’s what I meant by ‘how ridiculous.’

I loathe it too, there's only DH and I at home now (except when DS is home from Uni) and we like totally different things to eat ... and I agree about menu planning, how do I know what I want to eat in two nights time, what if I've been out for lunch, or you plan a BBQ and it's pouring with rain; I constantly end up with odds and ends in the freezer that I don't really want to eat but obviously don't want to waste. DH will cook but I don't like his cooking. I only really like two 'formal' evening meals a week and the rest of the time just prefer soup, toast or something simple.

I remember reading an article about a woman who was terminally ill and she actually divorced her DH as she couldn't bear the thought of her last year focusing on 'what's for dinner?' (Luckily for her the diagnosis was wrong ).

Well how do I explain sitting on my arse and not cooking while he was working? If he’s doing his share by working then he’ll expect me to do my share by cooking for when he gets home. Saying I couldn’t be bothered tonight simply won’t wash. He’ll say “oh well maybe I won’t be bothered to work tomorrow then!” The only excuse for not cooking is if he’s the only one who’s eating.

I hate it so much. I am quite picky, which is my own fault, but I can't help not liking stuff! So I feel like I'm already working with limited options. Then I can't be arsed to actually cook anything, or if I do then it's a disaster. I normally have either beans/spaghetti hoops on toast, pasta with chicken, a chip butty or a crepe. Need to marry a chef.

You say what you’ve just said. ‘I’m not up to cooking today so I’m having a sandwich.’

Either way you’re not cooking. So whether it’s because you’re tired or not hungry it is the same result - you haven’t cooked. But if you’re willing to put up with it then I guess that’s your thing!

Urgh I hate it too. It's the thinking, the shopping, the preparing, the cleaning, not just dinner but breakfasts, lunches and snacks (thinking and shopping mainly for those meals)
It seems like I have to deal with food in some capacity or another for a ridiculous amount of time.

It's so tedious, the thinking of what to have and adding variety. DH took over for a bit but I couldn't cope he just kept cooking the same things over and over. I won't even allow him to make spaghetti carbonara again. He kept buying ONE pack of pulled pork from Aldi to serve four of us and cooked it once a week every week. I can't even eat it now 😬

I cooked a big load of jacket spuds at the beginning of the week and it’s been heavenly just having spud with topping every night. Sometimes the topping is salt and pepper.
Makes such a nice change from stuff’n’rice

@Kanaloa no, I don't but my mum did the 10 day meal plan thing so you don't end up with lasagne every Monday because it's on a rolling 10 days

My meal plan is
CBA to cook?
No. Remove batch cook from freezer
Yes. Cook

I will make 5 portions of something, eat 1 and freeze 4, then the next time I make something different so my freezer is basically my own ready meal selection

Could not agree more.

I hate planning tea, especially with an indecisive husband who doesn't cook. Just glad that I only have two packed lunches to make these days and not six. Also dealing with the life admin which he does not do either ( he is really lovely though)

I agree 1 million percent, bane of my life!

We all work full time but I'm the one dreading coming home. I'll message and ask any suggestions? "Erm no...can't think of anything"
DH would be happy with beans on toast every night.

I HATE walking around the supermarket trying to invent something different.

Never cook on holiday though ever. That would be torture.

I suppose I can't complain though. I do the cooking and DH does all the housework.

Also to add when DH is off work he cooks up big pots of soup or curries which are amazing. I like coming home from work on those days.

I meal plan, I have a speadsheet. Wednesday night I sit down and plan the week, i use the speadsheet to look back at the previous few weeks and see what we have had recently. Pick things we haven't had or are favorites and make the list. Usually a couple of pasta dishes, a beige day, a fakeaway day, roast on sunday, a slow cook on wednesday to use up the last of the weeks veg.

Thursday morning before the school run I make the shopping list. After the school run I do the shop.

It is incredibly boring but at least it is only boring once a week.

I've said this on a similar thread: batch cooking is your friend! Stews, curry, spag bowls, lasagna, soups. It feeds the family at 2-3 nights in a row.

I work at home and hate it when I text DH to ask what we should have for tea and he replies ‘what’s the options’ - he knows what’s in the frogging fridge and freezer just as well as I do !

I used to plan my sons meals but never mine, if I did know what I was having that night, I wouldn't fancy it at the time so I still play a food roulette game on a daily basis
An elderly relative also called every day and asked what I was having for tea, when I said I didn't know yet you would think I was crazy or something, she couldn't comprehend that if I had it planned I simply may not fancy it.
Why are we not sharing easy fail proof family meals? please and thank you muchly x

This is genius! I do this and it makes life easier and gives a bit of choice.
Generally I can reheat a frozen meal in less time than a takeaway would be ordered arrive

Yep. I've taken to meal planning once a month or so. Check the freezer work out what days we're in/out working late etc. Then attack my recipe books saved websites and crack on

Feels more manageable than doing it weekly

I should add the reason I make 5 portions is because of a totally useless talent. Whatever stew, casserole, pasta bake, cottage pie etc I make, it's always 5 portions despite the fact I don't weigh or measure anything

Monday - pasta and tomato sauce
Tuesday - stir fry with noodles
Wednesday - salmon fillets with teriyaki sauce and rice and veg
Thursday - jackets with cheese and beans and salad
Friday - takeaway
Saturday - homemade pizzas
Sunday - roast chicken, potatoes and veg

And repeat! Job done!

This is why I use Hello Fresh and Gousto. It's so bloody tedious having to think about what to eat every night. I love choosing the meals and the convenience of knowing everything is there for me.

When I don't use the boxes I quite often just have toast or soup.

That's funny! I am cooking for one mostly and anybody would tell you it looks like I am feeding the whole street 😂 It's worse when I make soup! I must come across as some kind of shady soup "dealer" - do you want some soup? I am sure pals and neighbours actively avoid me in case they get more soup 😂

Ah, you knew my mother then?!
She HATED cooking and deciding what to cook. My father did not care what he got, as long as it was on the table at 6pm every night. So for years we had
Sun, roast, Mon, egg and chips. Tues, spag bol, Wed, sausage and mash Thurs, freezer food, Fri, crackers, cheese, pate etc, Sat pizza.

Oh god, it is so frickin tedious. I’d happily live off toast and biscuits if I could! Doesn’t help that teen DC are so bloody fussy - they weren’t like it when they were younger.